Daily Illuminator Archive for January 2008

It's 2008, at least here in the Central Time Zone -- your specific location may experience delays of up to six hours. If it isn't 2008 yet for you, let me tell you: the future is great! . . .
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If we had a Quote of the Day, this comment, from errata coordinator Fade Manley, would be it:
"I have learned to hate shotguns and the damage they do, whatever the hell that damage might be."
. . .
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When we released GURPS Dungeon Fantasy: Adventurers over the holiday break, we knew it was good, but we didn't know it was this good. The response has been staggering; less than a week after release, it has broken into the Top 20 Downloads of All Time . . .
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You may be done with the Bible Code, but it's not done with you. Revelation13.net offers pages (and pages and pages . . . ) of material about the secrets the Good Book conceals, from sacred prophecy to Scott Peterson, from Ebola to cold fusion . . .
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Yeah, that's a lame attempt to sneakily avoid saying "tattoo." But Munchkin Temporary Tattoos aren't lame or sneaky. You can pick some up from Warehouse 23 in a pack of 10 for just $4.00! . . .
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If one of your New Year's Resolutions is to be more organized, here's something that just might help: PocketMod. Part customizable calendar, part notepad, this may be the tool you need to keep your grocery list up to date, your deadlines juggled, and your phone list handy . . .
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If you didn't know, the world is going to end in 2012 (according to the Mayan calendar, anyway), so plan your vacation accordingly. If you were aware of this but just wanted more information about humanity's big finish, you couldn't ask for a more comprehensive page than Beyond 2012 . . .
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It seems like changing jobs is a hobby for some folks around here . . . This past November, Thomas' 133t coding skillz had advanced to the point where he was darned useful on a number of rather urgent projects we've been working on with our server . . .
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During our quality checks for the recent run of Munchkin Dice, we came across some interesting rejects. What happened to this blue die is easy to see -- an air bubble was trapped in the mold when the plastic was injected, and when it popped, one of the faces collapsed . . .
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Improv Everywhere is a group in New York City dedicated to causing "scenes of chaos and joy in public places." Since 2002, every January they've gathered people together to . . . take off their pants on the subway. Nothing lewd (everyone wears undergarments, and besides -- it's January in NYC!), and with a police escort (since 8 partici-no-pants were arrested in 2006), No Pants 2k8 expanded to over 900 New Yorkers and a half dozen other US cities . . .
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The behavior of engineers in Australia is nothing short of shocking. Tesla Down Under shows off a lot of experiments with liquid oxygen and lasers and what have you, but most of the site is given over to electricity . . .
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The first new, original GURPS PDF of 2008 is GURPS Martial Arts: Fairbairn Close Combat Systems. We actually uploaded back on the 10th, so sharp-eyed fans are already reading the GURPS write-ups of W.E. Fairbairn's armed and unarmed combat systems, plus templates for commando, cops, and special ops of World War II . . .
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Doesn't look like much at first glance, but this photo shows the components for the newest edition of Tribes, due out this summer. (The copy of Munchkin 2 - Unnatural Axe is included for purposes of illustrating scale, and won't be part of the final assembly.) . . .
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The ET Corn Gods Game is based on the claim of a meeting between an alien and an engineer. The visitor told of hidden messages throughout the English language, and the Code involves alphanumeric values, the periodic table, and the Bible (so anyone wanting to play has some serious homework ahead of him) . . .
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Last year we had an inquiry from a maker of really nice foam weapons - the kind LARPers use - about doing official Munchkin weapons like the Unnatural Axe. We liked that idea and said "Send us a proposal!"
But those guys haven't even answered mail in months . . .
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If you're ready to work in the office as a Production Assistant, that is. As we ramp up production on new GURPS PDFs, we find ourselves in need of a layout monkey capable of dropping text into an existing page design . . .
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